December 16, 2009 (FinancialWire) — Rentrak Corp. (NASDAQ: RENT) and The Nielsen Co. have signed a definitive agreement under which Rentrak will acquire Nielsen EDI, a firm engaged in measurement, information and research solutions for the motion picture industry, from The Nielsen Co.

The transaction, which is scheduled to close in the first calendar quarter of 2010, is subject, in some jurisdictions, to consultation with employee representative bodies and other regulatory requirements.

As part of the transaction, Nielsen will also enter into a long term data license agreement with Rentrak for continued access to certain box office sales information for certain of its existing products and services that currently use or feature such data.

Nielsen EDI, which will be integrated into Rentrak’s AMI division and its Box Office Essentials business, captures theatrical box office results from more than 50,000 movie screens in 14 countries.

The combination will provide box office results for the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom, covering 90% of the global theatrical box office market.

Rentrak is a media measurement and research company serving the entertainment industry.

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